Glass Hearts
by SoulessObsession
Summary: Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a town named Storybrooke. Now this wasn't any ordinary town as in fact, its occupants are real life fairy tales. The twist is that they can't remember who they are. Regina Mills AKA the Evil Queen is not happy. Her curse to remove all happy endings to create her own has failed her, and she wants to go back to where she belongs.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm done with this!" Regina Mills burst angrily into Mr. Gold's pawn shop, striding in with all the grace of a lioness and the natural power of her position… Evil Queen. The aura surrounding the woman was fierce and determined. She definitely wasn't someone to be trifled with. The sound of her black high heels clacking against the linoleum was a predatory one. Regina Mills was out for blood. And she was going to get it.

"Ah, Madame Mayor," Mr. Gold drawled out from behind the store's counter. "What can I do for you on this… fine day?" The sly man watched the woman storm towards him. Out of everybody in Storybrooke, Mr. Gold was the only person who was evenly matched in power to the hostile woman in front of him.

"Don't give me that crap," Regina hissed in response, fire burning in her eyes and a snarl waiting on her lips. "This wasn't what the curse was supposed to do." Mr. Gold watched the former queen in slight amusement. Everybody knew that the villain never got their happy ending.

"And what do you propose I do Miss Mills?"

"Help me find a way to lift the curse."

Mr. Gold almost laughed. The distaste he had for the Evil Queen was palpable. This woman ruined his life. Once upon a time he was the Dark One. He had immense power. He was feared large and wide and Regina Mills destroyed that. The fact that she was now coming to him for help was incredibly satisfying. Despite the strong urge to throw her pleads back into her own face, helping Regina do this would benefit him greatly. This was his chance for getting his magic back.

"And why would I do that?" In a shocking move that Mr. Gold was unprepared for, Regina grabbed his neck tie from behind the counter and pulled harshly so that their faces were aligned. Mr. Gold was forced to look at those eyes that had once upon a time, watched without mercy as she condemned thousands to death. Mr. Gold was not afraid of Regina, but he could admit when he was face to face with evil. He had to remind himself that he was in control here. Not her.

"Look, _Rumpelstiltskin_," Mr. Gold grimaced at the voicing of his real name. "This damn curse was supposed to be _my_ happiness! But now Henry's birth mother is back and my own son no longer wants to be in my presence. My magic is unravelling and I would rather be back in the Enchanted Forest before all the goddamn fairy tales in this town start to _remember._"

Mr. Gold broke away from the fuming woman, not wanting his tie to get any more crumpled than it already was. He studied Regina and realised she was succumbing to stress. Her usually perfect attire was wrinkled and creased and her faultless hair was standing up on end. Mr. Gold was feeling victorious.

"That still didn't answer my question, _Regina_," he sneered and picked up a crystal clear fork from his time of being the Dark One, examining it. "Why should I help you?"

"Because, my dear, what do you think our little residents are going to do when they remember _who you are?_" The Mayor smirked, a hint of her usual attitude coming through. "Please tell me you haven't forgotten the lives you've ruined and took. These people will be out for your blood."

Mr. Gold gritted his teeth at what he knew was the truth.

"Let's make a deal then," he smiled and Regina was reminded of a crocodile. A devious, sly crocodile who was waiting to snap his jaw for his meal.

"What's your price, Rumpelstiltskin?"

Mr. Gold's smile grew.

"Your heart."

The Evil Queen's eyes widened in shock and disbelief, her ears rejecting the information they had just been given. Her heart was her own. The minute she gave it to anybody else, she would no longer be in control of herself. She would belong to Rumpelstiltskin and that was something she could not let happen.

"_What?_ That's not even a possibility!"

Mr. Gold merely shrugged.

"Then you lose your son and when the curse is lifted from the actions of _Emma,_ don't come crying to me because the people you stole memories from start to remember."

"Don't say her name. Just hearing it gives me a damn headache," Regina groaned and rubbed her temples. Mr. Gold watched as she wandered around the store, seemingly lost in thought.

"What would you need to lift the curse?" Regina asked. Mr. Gold mused.

"Not too much… just a hair from both you and the saviour." The look on the former queen's face was hard to decipher. It was a merge of disgust and curiosity.

"Whatever do you need our _hair _for?" she asked hotly.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out dearie," Mr. Gold tapped the side of his head. Regina started pacing again.

"And how do you propose I get Miss Swan's hair, Mr. Gold?"

"Am I supposed to supply you of all the answers your _Majesty?"_

Regina clicked her tongue and brushed down her black power suit.

"No, I am perfectly capable," she replied briskly.

"Good, good, now I am going to have to ask you to leave. I suspect your presence is scaring away my customers." When Regina made no movement, Mr. Gold's stare turned icy. "_Please_."

Regina's eyes glossed over and without another word, she turned tail and left Rumpelstiltskin's store. Striding angrily outside, the sun glared into her eyes, blinding her vision from being inside the dusty store for so long. She was cursing Mr. Gold's name with everything she had. If she had her magic Rumpelstiltskin would be six feet under the ground by now for even _suggesting_ the possession of her heart. Her mother Cora had made the mistake of keeping her heart outside of her body and look what happened to her.

No. There had to be another way. Perhaps she could trick the trickster. It wouldn't be the first time.

The Evil Queen made her way through the town she had created, lost in her thoughts. She had to pull herself together. If not for her sake, then for Henry's. Her son could not see her like this.

She passed Granny's Diner and collided with a hard, warm body. For a moment Regina was stunned, horribly wrenched from her mind as the woman she had stumbled into apologised profusely.

"I am so sorry Mayor!" Regina glared at none other than Mary Margaret. Formerly known as Snow White. She looked quite different in this world however. Once upon a time she had long flowing, black hair whereas now Mary Margaret had cut it very short. Regina didn't want to admit it but she was a beautiful woman.

"As you should be," Regina hissed. Mary Margaret stared at her in shock, but underneath that Regina could see that she wasn't surprised by Regina's reaction.

"Have a good day Mayor," she said stiffly before walking off, not another glance shot her way. Regina's insides boiled with frustration and rage. It was times like these that she wished she had never cast Rumpelstiltskin's wretched curse. She was much better off when she had her magic.

Spotting her car, Regina crossed the road and got in hastily. Her feet were aching and she longed for a hot bath and a glass of wine. She was relieved that her home was on the outskirts of town, away from prying eyes of the town. However, as she pulled up her driveway, a growl escaped her lips as she saw the yellow Beatle that belonged to Miss Emma Swan. Regina Mills could not get a break today.

Parking her car, the Evil Queen fired herself up, ready to give the blonde woman waiting outside her front door a piece of her mind. She stormed up the path, her fingertips tingling with the suppressed magic that she _knew _was still running through her veins, itching to be released. Itching to turn the birth mother of her child into a filthy rodent.

"_What are you doing here?"_ Regina demanded as soon as she was in ear shot. Emma's trademark leather jacket and smug smile was getting under Regina's skin already.

"Regina. Always a pleasure," Emma replied, a look of distaste crossing her face. Her grey eyes were piercing and Regina felt the urge to rip the woman's heart out. "I'm here to tell you that I'm picking Henry up from school today."

"Excuse me?" Regina asked completely flabbergasted.

"You're lucky I'm even informing you," Emma narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"You will do no such thing! He is _my _son!" Regina raged.

"He is also mine so please, get over it. Henry asked me to pick him up."

"H-he did?" Regina stammered, suddenly feeling weak. Emma nodded and studied the woman in front of her. Regina looked _tired_. There were tell-tale dark circles beneath her eyes and her suit looked worn. To Emma's surprise, worry shot through her veins and she swallowed nervously.

"Regina, are you alright?" she asked softly. Regina blinked at the younger woman in surprise and wariness.

"I'm fine," she snapped. "Now please, get off my property before I call Graham." Emma's nostrils flared.

"I'm sure he'd come running to your beck and call. After all, you are sleeping with him aren't you?"

Regina's heart sped up with anger, her hands balled up into fists. Her vision was red. Emma was very lucky that Regina no longer had any magic otherwise the woman in front of her would be dead at her feet.

"Leave," Regina said quietly. Emma didn't move. "Get the hell out of my face, right now!" Regina's outburst was shocking and Emma flinched at the smaller woman's furiousness. She knew better than to argue, so grabbing the edges of her jacket, she manoeuvred around the former queen and made her way to her car.

"I'll drop Henry home around five." Regina didn't answer and Emma got into her car and hurriedly drove away. Regina angrily unlocked her front door and stepped into her house, wiping away tears of frustration and stress.

Regina had made up her mind.

She was giving Rumpelstiltskin her heart.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma leaned on her beloved car's door, absentmindedly stroking the paint as she glowered at the town line. Every time somebody from inside the town had crossed it, bad things would happen. A car would crash, somebody would go missing… a murder. Henry had told her that it was something to do with the '_evil curse' _that had befallen on Storybrooke. One that apparently his own adoptive mother had cast. Emma shook her head at the thought and kicked at a rock. Her son certainly had an imaginative mind that was for sure. Although, Emma was concerned at what was imaginary and what was real to the kid. He genuinely believed in that mumbo jumbo fairy tale crap.

He genuinely thought that Emma was… _the Saviour. _Apparently she was to lift the curse and bring back everybody's happiness but unfortunately, as life had taught her again and again, there was no such thing as a happy ending. Not in this world anyway.

Her gaze landed on a crow that was perched on a nearby tree branch. The bird had its head cocked and appeared to be staring right at her. For some reason Emma was reminded of Regina and a frustrated scowl creased her forehead at the image of the insufferable woman.

_Regina Mills._

Storybrooke's Mayor, Henry's mother, and the bane of Emma's existence. And yet, she could not find it in herself to _hate _the woman, despite the living hell she liked to inflict upon the blonde. Regina Mills was frustrating, confusing, sly, cunning and just plain _mean. _She had even heard people call her _evil. _But she was still her son's mother and the feuding between the two women had to stop. For Henry's sake. The poor boy was getting whiplash from the absurd fighting. And to be honest, Emma was sick of it as well. It was_ tiring. _

The sound of Emma's phone ringing made her jump and she cursed under her breath, pulling it out of her pocket and answering it.

"Sheriff Swan speaking."

"Emma?"

"Mary Margaret?"

"Emma, where are you?" the woman screeched loudly, making Emma wince and pull the receiver from her ear slightly.

"Mary, what's wrong?" 

There was a strange panting noise from the other end and Emma had a bizarre image of her roommate having sex on her own bed. Frowning and shaking the unwanted thoughts out of her mind, she repeated her question a little more hastily.

"I've met someone!"

Emma's heart slowed its fast pace and she let out an inaudible sigh, rolling her eyes slightly.

"I thought it was an emergency!" she exclaimed into the phone, once again scowling at the town line. "What have I told you about calling this number if it isn't important? And why aren't you at the school teaching my son?"

"I know, I know. I should be at work but Emma, this man is… is _incredible_." Mary Margaret sounded breathless and excited and Emma couldn't help but smile.

"We'll talk more about this when I get home, okay? I have to pick Henry up from school and I promised to drop him off at his mum's." The line immediately went quiet at this.

"You know Regina isn't going to like that-"

"I've already told her," Emma interrupted. "She was more than unhappy with it."

The blonde sighed, once again thinking about Regina Mills and the difficult situation she was in.

"That woman is insufferable," Mary Margaret muttered. "I wish she would be more… understanding."

"You and me both," Emma scoffed kicking at a stone.

"Well I'll have dinner waiting for you and good luck. It sounds like you'll need it."

Emma smiled again and uttered her thanks before ending the call. The late afternoon sun was casting the trees into shadow and Emma got into her Bug, pulling away from the town line.

The thought of her son cheered her up considerably. The twelve year old had found her alone on her birthday one night having travelled by himself all the way to Boston. The shock Emma had had seeing her son for the first time since he had been born was indescribable. Henry had then successfully tricked her into taking him back to Storybrooke and as soon as she had seen who his adoptive mother was, she knew she was staying in this unusual town. Henry had captured her heart at first sight and Emma found it impossible to think of a future without her son.

Emma drove her Bug further into town, passing the Diner and the psychiatric office that was run by Archie Hopper (who Henry swore was actually Jiminy Cricket) and pulling into Storybrooke Elementary School. The bell for the end of the day had already rang and Emma saw with a jolt her young son standing agitatedly against the bus stop, seemingly looking for her.

"Hey kid," Emma called pulling up beside him and opening the passenger door for him. The boy surprisingly, didn't look like his birth mother, but more like his adoptive one. He had dark, brown hair that was always immaculately styled (thanks to Regina). His facial features were sharp and pointed much like Regina's and he had hazel eyes that always seemed to _see_ more than the average person. Emma sometimes felt uncomfortable under her son's gaze. It seemed he had inherited her uncanny knack for detecting lies. And of course, Henry was carrying that damned story book under his arm. He never seemed to leave the house without it.

"You're late," the brunette accused fixing her with a scowl that would put Regina's to shame.

"Sorry kid, I got… caught up," Emma replied absentmindedly, pulling away from the school and once again cruising through the town.

"With Operation Cobra?" Henry asked eagerly. Emma bit her lip and inwardly sighed. Operation Cobra was Henry's codename for the mission to 'break the curse' in Storybrooke and bring back all the happy endings.

"Nah, but it did involve your mother," the blonde replied darkly.

"Oh," the boy slunk into his seat looking slightly disappointed. "What happened?"

"She isn't happy that I'm spending time with you this afternoon," Emma said avoiding Henry's eye. It wouldn't do any good for her son to see how annoyed Regina made her.

"Well that's too bad," Henry said stubbornly. "If I want to see you then I can see you."

Emma smiled widely, reminded of herself at his age.

"Exactly kid. So… where do you want to go?"

Emma knew the answer to this question but asked anyway.

"To my Castle of course!"

Emma laughed.

"Oh, why didn't I think of that?" she asked sarcastically. Henry's Castle was in fact a small playground located near the beach that the boy visited whenever he wanted to be alone. He had confided in Emma that she was the only person who knew about this secret hideaway; even Regina didn't know about it.

The sky had grown overcast and the air was thick with unshed rain. The car sped along the outskirts of Storybrooke and the ocean was soon in view. Mother and son sat in comfortable silence, Henry reading through his book for the thousandth time and Emma lost in her thoughts. Just as the woman was thinking through a game plan to get Regina and her on the same side, Henry made a noise of realisation.

"Emma, I know who Ruby is now!"

The blonde blinked in confusion, still thinking about Henry's adoptive mother.

"Huh?"

"She's Red Riding Hood!"

A laugh escaped Emma's mouth and she parked the Bug outside Henry's Castle.

"Kid, you think _Ruby _is Little Red Riding Hood?"

Henry frowned and shoved the book under Emma's nose.

"Look!"

Emma looked down and examined the page. There was a beautiful illustration of a girl dressed in a red cloak, running through the forest.

"I've been wondering who Ruby could be for ages now and I've just realised," Henry said excitedly. Emma just smiled and shook her head, getting out of the car and opening her son's door. Rain was starting to fall lightly and Emma relished in the coolness, distracting her from her troubling thoughts.

"I promised your mum I'd bring you back around five," the blonde reminded her son as they walked over to the large cubby house that was set in sand. Henry climbed the slide and sat at the top of it, swinging his legs, looking very disgruntled.

"I hate her."

"No you don't," Emma replied immediately. She leant against the slide, looking up at him.

"I do so. You have no idea what it's like living with her."

It was silent for a moment.

"She does love you," Emma said gently. Regina was a lot of things but it was very obvious that she cared for Henry greatly.

"Has a funny way of showing it," he murmured and kicked against the plastic slide.

"Sometimes people have difficulty in expressing how they feel," Emma sighed looking up at the gloomy sky.

"It doesn't matter anyway because when you break the curse we can all go back to the Enchanted Forest and Snow White and Prince Charming will banish the Evil Queen! We'll live happily ever after."

Emma sighed and looked at the eager face of her kid.

"Henry-" But she couldn't bring herself to drag him back to reality. Instead she just smiled and looked away.

"I know you still don't believe me, but you'll see. True love's kiss will break the curse," Henry said stubbornly. Emma almost scoffed.

"True love's kiss? And who am I supposed to be kissing?" she asked sceptically. Henry suddenly blanched and a thin blush rose to his cheeks, much to Emma's amusement.

"Hey, shouldn't we be getting back?" he asked suddenly changing the topic abruptly. Emma checked her watch.

"We still have half an hour left kid."

They fell silent again. Emma was frequently surprised of the lack of conversation between them. She thought they would have loads to talk about but like her, Henry wasn't a man of words.

"I think you and mum should try to get along," Henry said suddenly.

"I've been trying Henry, believe me. She just… doesn't seem to like me very much." Emma felt bitter and slightly angry at the thought. Why couldn't Regina just get over herself already? The stupid prideful woman.

"Don't give up, Emma," Henry replied wisely. "I think you'll be surprised at what could happen."

Emma frowned at that ominous statement but didn't say much more. The rest of their time was spent building sandcastles and chasing each other with sticks. Regina wasn't brought up again.


End file.
